Re-Arbor Glen Arbor Raises $45,000

This entry was posted on November 20, 2015 by Bob Sutherland.

The Re-Arbor Glen Arbor Fundraising Campaign has raised $45,000. Thank you to all who have contributed to this important effort. From the moment the storm cleared, we’ve been hard at work clearing, rebuilding and fundraising. What have we accomplished in the three months since the storm? Here is a short photo blog update:

We have to begin with the Glen Lake Community Reform Church’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors volunteer effort. They have cleaned up 27 yards and put in 500 volunteer hours. Re-Arbor Glen Arbor has donated $5,000 to them in early October and we just donated another $5,000 last week. This money has allowed them to hire heavy equipment when needed and will allow them to hire a few professional tree teams to get a few yards cleaned up before the snow flies.

Here is a photo of the Friends of the Sleeping Bear Dunes cleaning up the Heritage Bike Trail in September. We contributed a total of $10,000 to them for several specific areas that needed tree clearing. Some of the money is also going to planting trees in DH Day Campground as several campsites lost their shade trees.

Here is a photo of volunteers working with the park staff to clear the hiking trails on Alligator Hill. This is a big job and the crew hopes to have it cleared for cross country skiing this winter.

Here is the Alligator Hill Trail Head in Glen Arbor. The park still have much to clear on this eastern section of the trails.

New trees are happily resting in many key spots in Glen Arbor. This was a joint effort between Re-Arbor Glen Arbor, a community task force and the Glen Arbor Township. Nice work everyone.

There is still much to do. Re-Arbor is saving some of it’s money for next spring and if there is a section of land that is an eyesore, we will work with the property owner to see if we can help clear it up. In the middle of town, some donations will go to clearing up a section of common land with conservation restrictions by the Glen Arbor Art Association.

Many sections will never get cleared. And that’s OK. New trees will grow and these trees will decompose and fertilize the new trees that one day will be as tall as the ones that fell.